My Lionheart
by Hikari Reika
Summary: Rinoa Heartilly is a new student of Balamb Garden. She thinks that it's just an odinary Garden but a series of crazy twists and turns awaits her. And at the very end of that light, a Lion is waiting for her. [Squinoa]
1. A New Beginning

**MY LIONHEART – CHAPTER 1 **

_A New Beginning_

"Good morning, class." Quistis called out. The whole class fell silent suddenly while a few students walked back to their places. Quistis cleared her throat and put on her spectacles. She held a white piece of paper, moved her glasses a little, looked up from the paper and smiled to the class. "It seems we have a new student here today from Timber. Ah, but I don't see her here."

Quistis scanned the classroom and nodded her head. "She's new and she's late already. Figures. She probably got lost, eh?" She chuckled to herself but the whole class sat quietly; their sleepy eyes staring at her. She dropped her cheery voice and coughed again. Suddenly a girl's voice rang out from the door.

"I'm sorry!" A girl in blue and black stumbled across the door. She skipped towards Quistis and bowed low, apologizing again in a small voice.

"It's alright." Quistis said. "Class, she is our new student. Her name is Rinoa Heartilly. Now be good to her, class. Take out your textbooks and read page 137. Rinoa, you may take an empty seat anywhere you like."

"Thank you." Rinoa bowed politely again and she scanned the classroom, looking for a seat.

_There's only one seat left, I think, _she thought. She eyed an empty seat and next to it sat a brown-haired guy who was staring blankly at the pages, flipping it and he lowered his head onto the table.

Rinoa walked up to him. He didn't notice her presence.

"Excuse me." Rinoa said in a small voice, trying to get his attention. He looked up at her with a neutral expression and Rinoa smiled at him. Before she could say anything else, someone called out her name behind her.

"Rinoa!" A girl with brown hair called out to her. She had a weird hairstyle – the ends of her hair were curled upwards, but it gave her a super cute look. "Rinoa! I've got an empty seat here. Come on!"

Rinoa stood blank for a moment and turned around to the stranger who was already sitting upright in his seat. She smiled at him again and said "Erm. Sorry, it's okay. I'll take her seat, then."

The dark-haired stranger nodded with the same expression and laid his head down onto the table again.

"Hiya!" The girl said. "My name's Selphie Tilmitt. You're General Caraway's daughter, right?"

"Right." Rinoa said and she nodded. "Is it okay if you show me around? I got lost for about an hour before I came to class… Heh heh." She laughed nervously.

Selphie winked at her. "Sure, Rin. We'll have lunch first then I'll show you around, okay?"

"Rin?" Rinoa repeated.

"Yeah! And you can call me Selph! Is that okay?"

"Er… Alright then." Rinoa smiled.

_Wow. She's definitely a people person. I think I'll be able to fit here just fine, _Rinoa thought.

After the bell rang, Selphie and Rinoa was about to pack up when Quistis called out. "Rinoa, I want to see you after class."

Rinoa nodded, grabbed her bag and immediately walked up to Quistis. Selphie took her stuff and trailed her from behind.

"Rinoa, I've been assigned to brief you about this school. Also I need to give you your Student ID card and your room key but… I'm afraid I'm very hungry right now." Quistis smiled while holding her stomach and laughed heartily.

"I can show her around, Quisty!" Selphie said cheerfully, holding Rinoa's arm.

"Oh, hello Selphie! I see you made a new friend. Want to go for lunch?"

"Sure!" Selphie cheered.

The two waited for Quistis to pack her books and left the classroom.

"Miss Quistis?" Rinoa asked.

"Yes? Oh, and please, call me Quistis when we're out of class. I'm not used to being a lecturer again."

"Oh?" Rinoa said.

"My lecturer's license was revoked about a year ago. But now I've managed to get my license again."

"And what were you doing for that one year?"

"Like you, I was a student." Quistis said happily. "So don't be so formal around me outside of class. It makes me feel old. I'm still 18 for god's sake!" She laughed. "Besides, I was Selphie's classmate. We're going to meet the rest of my old classmates soon."

Rinoa laughed and felt at ease. Not long after that, they reached the cafeteria.

"Hey!" A young man wearing a cowboy hat waved from a table for six. He had his legs on the table with a rifle by his side.

"The lady-killer of the school." Quistis whispered into Rinoa's ear and she smiled, trying hard not to laugh. The three approached him and Irvine smiled at the sight of Selphie.

Selphie smiled and plopped herself next to Irvine and he held his arm around her.

"Going out for two months and still going strong." Quistis added.

"Hello. And who is this young lady?" Irvine said; a smirk spread across his face. Rinoa bowed, introducing herself.

"Hello, I'm Rinoa Heartilly. And you are…?"

"Irvine. Irvine Kinneas." Irvine smiled and started to kiss Selphie's forehead. She giggled and poked him playfully.

After a few moments, they came back to the table with food. Rinoa saw a blond boy with spiky hair and a tattoo on the left-side of his face. He smiled widely when he saw them.

"New kid?" He smiled. "The name's Zell Dincht. You must be Rinoa, right? Nice to meet you! Now let's chow down!"

Before Rinoa could say anything, Zell had already halfway finished his meal which was brought to the table by Quistis. Everyone sweat-dropped.

The rest ate their meal and Irvine and Zell bickered over whose weapon was the coolest. Their stupid remarks and kiddish attitude made the whole table roar with laughter and the two made up by slapping each other high-fives.

After meeting her new friends, Rinoa felt sleepy and wanted to go to her room. Quistis sensed it and she politely asked for her leave. Then she, Rinoa and Selphie left the cafeteria and showed her around the school.

"Oh." Rinoa said, blushing. "I thought this school was really big."

"It feels small once you know your way around." Quistis said. "Ah, this is the way to the dorms. Come on, I'm sure you're tired!"

Rinoa nodded and followed the other two up the hallway and they reached a room. Quistis took out a key card, swiped it and the doors slid open.

"Wow… It's nice." Rinoa said. Quistis gave her a wink and said "It is, isn't it? Oh well, I got to get going. A lot of paper work to do. Take care and enjoy yourself alright?"

"Alright. Thanks." Rinoa said, not noticing that Selphie was bouncing on her bed.

"Oh, and don't forget to do your homework!" Quistis called out before she left for the door. Rinoa waved towards Quistis who was walking down the hallway and she saw the same dark-haired stranger come up her way. He walked to the room next to her and swiped his key card.

"Hello." Rinoa said, smiling towards him. He looked at her in an unfazed way and entered his room and his door slid shut.

_How rude, _she thought as the doors slid shut. _He could at least smile._

After getting bombarded with info about Balamb Garden and its students, Selphie left with a lot of energy to spare and Rinoa fell onto her bed, feeling exhausted. Not long after that, she fell into a deep sleep.

_Hikari Reika: Yeah. I know. Pretty boring for the first chapter. I haven't written a FF8 fanfic for three years now and I'm afraid I've gotten a bit rusty. But apparently by reading other fanfics, I became even more hooked on writing fics nowdays._

_Anyway, I've uploaded chapter 2 and 3 as well because… Well… You know, the first chapter is boring and I want you guys to keep coming back ya. Thanks _


	2. A Different Light

**MY LIONHEART – CHAPTER 2**

_A Different Light_

Rinoa awoke the next day with a headache. She groaned, pulling the pillow over her head. Then she noticed bars of light coming from her window. She immediately pulled off the sheets and looked at her clock.

_8 o'clock? Oh no! I'm late already!_ She thought. She scrambled out of bed, took a quick shower and got dressed in five minutes flat. She stumbled out of her room without time to make her bed and halted for a moment, clutching a small piece of paper in her hand. She shifted her bag straps and looked at the paper closely.

_History? 3-2-14? I don't even know where that is!_

Then suddenly she heard a click and a woosh. She stood there and she saw the dark-haired stranger exit his room. He was wearing black pants, a white shirt that clearly showed his muscular frame. He held his jacket and stopped to put it on.

"Excuse me." She said, calling after him. He turned around and looked at her with the same expression and finished putting on his jacket. He stood there, waiting for her to say something.

"Er… Sorry but can you show me where this class is?" Rinoa said as she handed the stranger the piece of paper. He looked at it and gave it back to her.

"…Sure." Was all he said. He walked first and Rinoa walked beside him. "Block 3. Level 2. Class 14"

"Oh. Okay! So that's what it means, eh? Haha… Erm. You're not going down for breakfast?" Rinoa asked, trying to start a conversation.

"…I'm not hungry." He said simply, avoiding her gaze.

"Ah, I see. Same here. I'm not a morning person either." She said and she chuckled, expecting him to do the same.

But he just kept walking with no hint of emotion.

"What's your name?" Rinoa asked as she quickened her pace to keep up with him.

At first he didn't answer but then he turned his head slightly towards her and said "Squall."

"Squall…?" She repeated, expecting his full name.

"Leonhart."

"That's a nice name!" Rinoa said cheerfully.

Squall didn't say anything and kept walking.

"You don't talk much, do you?" She said, frowning.

"…Whatever." He said. They reached the classroom and Rinoa sat down in an empty space. Squall sat down, sitting not too far away from her.

_God, he's rude. He didn't even tell me we were in the same class!_

"Hello." Rinoa heard a slurry voice call out from behind her. She turned around and she got the shock of her life as her face was inches away from a stranger's face. She jerked her head back and almost yelped. The blonde stranger smirked at her. He had his right arm leaning on the back of the chair and he held out his other hand and held hers. "The name's Seifer Almasy. How nice to finally meet you, angel Rinoa." He said and he kissed her hand.

Rinoa blushed, remembering that she had painted wings on her blue attire. Seifer smirked even wider. She noticed that he had a scar across his face. She also noticed how incredibly handsome he was and she started to get even more shy by the minute.

Squall, who was sitting not far from them watched Seifer in action. He stared at them for a moment as Seifer coolly put his arm behind her and then held her. He saw her shifting in her seat but Seifer's hand stayed there. Squall glanced somewhere else and got out his textbook from under the desk when the lecturer came in. He eyed Seifer and Rinoa again and had a sinking feeling in his heart.

_What is this I'm feeling? _Squall thought to himself. His emotion felt distant and new but it was vaguely familiar at the same time. He shook his head slightly, trying to focus on History. But every ten minutes or so his glance would automatically focus on the two and he didn't know why. Seifer still had one arm around her and he kept whispering into her ear and she looked like she enjoyed his company. When the lecturer gave out handouts that are supposed to be shared with two people, the two sat even more closely to each other and Rinoa kept giggling throughout the class. This sight made Squall uneasy.

At the end of class, Squall exited the class with an uneasy feeling as he saw the two walk out the door side-by-side. He shook his head again, dwelling in denial.

"Alright! I'll see you later!" Rinoa said cheerfully as she and Seifer parted ways. She smiled to herself, walking in a daze. Squall walked up behind her, keeping his distance as both of them walked towards the dormitories.

Rinoa heard footsteps behind her and she coolly turned around and saw Squall.

"Hey Squall." She said as she smiled. She stopped in her tracks for a while and waited for Squall to keep up. Then the both of them walked together, side-by-side. She looked at him again, and then she noticed something.

"You and Seifer have the same scar." She blurted out.

Squall looked taken aback a bit but then his facial expression became neutral again. "So?"

"Is it okay if I ask why?" She said, giggling.

"…He gave me this scar, I gave him that scar." He said, looking disgusted.

"You guys got into an argument…?"

"We were training. That wise guy thought otherwise."

"I see." Rinoa thought. She smiled to herself, knowing that she got more words out of Squall than anyone else in the Garden.

"Hey, let's go down to lunch, shall we?"

Squall looked at her in an unfazed way and nodded simply.

"Alright! Let's go then!" She said cheerily

"Uh, Rinoa?" Squall said. Rinoa stopped in her tracks. For some reason when Squall said her name, she felt something inside her but she didn't know what.

"Err… yeah?"

"The cafeteria is this way." Squall said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh." She said, blushing. "Right. Well… Let's go! I'm starving." She said as she followed Squall towards the cafeteria.

She and Squall sat at a table. Squall went over to buy some food for both of them when Rinoa noticed that Selphie, Quistis and the rest were waving at her, motioning her to join.

"Hey guys!" She said, beaming on all of them as she approached them. Then Squall came from behind her, holding two plates of food. The table became silent suddenly upon his appearance. Rinoa couldn't decipher why.

"Hello Squall." Quistis smiled. "Want to join us?"

"Yeah, Squall! Don't you ever get tired eating in your room?" Selphie said, jumping up and down on Irvine's lap.

"You know each other?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah. We're all from the same orphanage." Zell said, chewing on a steak bone.

Suddenly Rinoa felt sorry for Squall; knowing that something hurt him really bad in the past made Rinoa feel that way. She saw him in a different light that day.

"Oh." Rinoa said, trying to say something. "Come on, Squall. Let's join them."

Squall stood there motionlessly and then preceded sitting next to Quistis. Rinoa sat next to Selphie, directly opposite Squall. Everyone kept quiet for a while then the bickering between Zell and Irvine started up again. Rinoa sighed, thankful that everything was back to normal.

After they ate, they parted ways and Rinoa found herself walking side-by-side with Squall. They walked towards their room and Rinoa said goodbye as she skipped towards her own room. She took out her key card, swiped it and the doors slid open.

"Hey." Squall said just before she entered her room. "Stay away from Seifer. He's bad news."

Rinoa felt hurt by his comment and gave him a small, pained smile. "I'm sorry to say this, Squall but I know Seifer. He's a good guy. I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

Squall looked at her with a worried look and shook his head. He swiped his own key card and disappeared into his room. Rinoa still had her head out the door, confused about the conversation they had. She stepped back and let the doors close.

_Why is he so concerned of my safety? Maybe he likes me…? Aw, Rin! Stop thinking like that! You're so paranoid._

Rinoa chuckled to herself for no reason at all. She got ready for bed and fell asleep the moment her head touched her pillow.

_Hikari Reika: Yes, another boring chapter. I like to write long chapters but I'm scared that it's too long for anyone to read. Sighh. Bear with me, I'll promiseI'll make this fic good._


	3. Raped of her Heart

**MY LIONHEART – CHAPTER 3**

_Raped of her Heart_

Squall awoke suddenly in the middle of the night. He sat up in his bed, his head hanging sleepily. He didn't know what caused him to wake up but he couldn't go back to sleep. He had a sickening feeling to his stomach and he knew that he didn't wake up without a reason. Suddenly he heard a scream coming from the room next door. It was a gurgled scream and he immediately felt fully awake and alert.

_Rinoa? _Squall thought and he bolted out the door. Upon reaching Rinoa's door, he noticed that the electronic door isn't working. It was halfway opened and he could make out two shadows in the dark.

"No! Stop! Get off me!" He heard Rinoa scream. Then her screams were muffled as if someone put his or her hand over her mouth and he heard her cry loudly.

"Rinoa!" He called out as he squeezed through the door. One of the shadows got up and immediately punched him in the face. He fell back and the attacker continued to approach Rinoa. She tried to fight back in the dark and she felt her attacker hold her wrists, pinning her to her bed. The attacker's hand made its way under Rinoa's silk camisole and it stroked her soft and tender flesh. She felt the attacker's hot breath scratch her face and she felt lips kissing her neck and moving its way up to her mouth. She screamed but she felt the lips pressing against hers. She cried, hot tears streaming down her face.

Squall pulled the attacker off Rinoa and they both stumbled in the dark. Squall punched the attacker hard and he heard him cough up blood. The smell of copper filled the room and the attacker ran out the door. Squall caught a glimpse of the attacker before he disappeared.

Suddenly the lights came on and Rinoa sat upright on her bed, holding the sheets to cover herself in one hand and she had her fingers over the light switch with the other. She looked pale, her hair messed up and she had tears streaming down her face. She wiped her tears, trying to look strong.

Alas, she broke down altogether. Squall walked over to her, not knowing how to handle the situation. He sat on her bed while she kept sobbing.

"H… Hey. Don't cry." He blurted out. Listening to himself, he thought he sounded stupid.

Rinoa still kept on crying, her hands cupped her face.

"Hey." Squall said softly as he put his hand on her bare shoulder. He stroked it slowly, trying to make her calm down. His action made her stop crying and she looked up from her hands. He hushed her and said "You… Can stay in my room. Your door's fused. It's not safe."

She sat quiet for a while and she nodded, trying her tears. She slowly got up from her bed but she found out that she can't walk properly. She tripped and fell towards Squall and he caught her. Rinoa found herself resting her head against his chest and she felt her stomach fill with butterflies. Her knees gave way and she almost dropped but Squall held her and she tried to control herself.

"Can you walk?" He asked her. She freed herself from his embrace, feeling rather awkward.  
"I think I can…" She said weakly, trying hard not to blush.

Squall helped Rinoa walk to his room where he placed her on his bed and he pulled the sheets up her neck. She smiled and said thanks in a small voice and then they kept silent for a moment.

"That was Seifer, right…" Rinoa said; a distant sign of disgust filled the tone of her voice.

Squall didn't say anything but nodded, kneeling beside her.

"I'll report this first thing in the morning." Squall said with the same icy tone of his voice.

Even though it was dark, Squall could see Rinoa smiling at him. She lifted herself up from his bed and she kissed him on the cheek. Squall sat there dumbfounded and she giggled and pulled the sheets over her. In a matter of seconds, she was fast asleep.

_Did… she just kiss me?_

The next morning, Rinoa woke up with the memories of the night before stirring in her head. She took one good look at the ceiling and immediately knew that it wasn't her room. Then she remembered the events of the night before.

After she sat up in bed, she noticed that Squall was still sitting next to the bed beside her, one hand sandwiched between his forehead and the bed and the other hand was holding her hand firmly.

She felt that it was sweet of him to take care of her. She tried to move her hand away from his hand without waking him up. Suddenly she heard him groan and he lifted his head sleepily. He blinked twice and asked "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks." Rinoa said. She smiled sweetly and it made Squall blush a little.

"Well," Squall said, getting up. "I'm going to report to the headmaster about this. You can use my room to get dressed… Or something."

"Alright." She said. "And thanks."

Squall didn't say anything and exited his room. Rinoa sat at the foot of the bed, confused like crazy.

She picked herself up and headed towards the shower. Closing the shower door behind her, she opened the tap and cold water washed over her. She tried to block out the memories of the night before. She was soaping herself when she glanced at her body. Knowing that Seifer's hands touched her, she felt like she could vomit. She felt unclean and the cold water won't wash away that feeling. She kept herself from crying but she broke down, her tears mixing with the cold water coming from the shower head.

She cried long and loud until Squall came back. He heard her, but felt like it was inappropriate to approach her when she's in the shower.

He felt helpless for once. Helpless and vulnerable.

He shook his head and thought about getting her clothes from her room. Exiting his room, he could still hear Rinoa's cries. Even though he doesn't know how it feels like to be molested, he knew that it hurt her a lot.

Right now, he was focusing on making her feel better.

He opened her drawers and took out a pair of clothing and her towel and went back to his room. He laid he clothes nicely on his bed and he heard her sobbing stop. The shower door opened and Rinoa screamed, hiding behind the shower door.

_Figures, _Squall thought. _She forgot about her towel._

He got up with her towel in his hand and knocked on the door. She poked her head out of the door.

"Here." He said simply. She smiled weakly, trying to conceal the fact that she was crying and took it. Before she closed the door, Squall handed her her clothes.

"Oh. Right. Thanks." Rinoa said in a tired voice.

Squall nodded and waited for her to get dressed. When she did, she came out of the shower looking paler than before.

"I need to bring you to the infirmary. Just to make sure you're okay." Squall said in a monotone voice but there was a hint of something more.

"Okay then. Let's go!" Rinoa said, trying to act cheery.


	4. Doom

**MY LIONHEART – CHAPTER 4**

_Doom_

"It seems that you're fine." Dr. Kawadoki said after checking her up.

"Thank you." Rinoa said tiredly. She tried to get out of bed but Dr. Kawadoki pressed her down, nodding her head.

"You must rest, Rinoa. I'm going to get a psychologist here to see if you're mentally alright." She said.

Rinoa's eyes widened and she protested. "I'm fine! Look at me! I don't want a shrink! What, do you think I'm crazy? **Do you**?" she said as she hastily got up from her bed. Dr Kawadoki had her hands to Rinoa's wrist but Rinoa kept pushing her, trying to break free of her grasp.

"Let me go!" Rinoa said finally and managed to wriggle herself out of Dr. Kawadoki's grasp. She darted towards the front door and the door slid open. She ran towards it and Squall stood there, his face a bit shocked to see Rinoa dart towards him.

"Rin…?" He said as Rinoa accidentally bumped into him. He held her tightly, not letting her go.

"I don't want to see the shrink. I don't want to…" She kept muttering, almost at the verge of crying. "Let me go!"

"Listen to Dr. Kawadoki. You'll be fine." Squall said, lowering his voice so only she can hear.

"No, no, no, no…" she rambled on and she bit her lip.

"Rinoa! Please!" Squall shouted for the first time, gripping her arms. He looked at her straight in the eye, cold and serious. Rinoa kept quiet and stared straight at him.

Squall realized he shouted at her and he lowered his voice again, this time his voice sounded soft. "I just want to make sure that you're okay. I only want the best for you. Listen to Dr. Kawadoki, she took care of me as well."

They stood there for a while then Rinoa finally nodded her head. Squall sighed and accompanied her back to her bed. Then he heard the doors open and there was a commotion outside.

"Rin! Are you okay?" Squall heard a chirpy voice. He turned around and the whole gang was there. Selphie ran towards Rinoa first, followed by Zell. Irvine and Quistis looked white as they passed the door. Squall got up and walked towards them.

"Squall, I need to talk to you in private." Quistis whispered. Squall looked back at the other two who was comforting Rinoa. They seemed to do a better job at it. Squall hated himself right then and there.

"Squall." Quistis said as they got out of the infirmary. Irvine stood near them, looking around to see if anyone was eavesdropping on them. Then Quistis leaned towards Squall, too close for his taste.

"Squall… Seifer's missing." She said in a small voice.

"Missing?" Squall said in a fathomed tone.

"Missing. He's not in the school grounds." Quistis said. She turned around and leaned in even closer to him, so close that her nose was touching his cheek and she whispered into his ear, "The Doom machine prototype is missing too."

Squall took a step back and cursed so loud that the students who were walking in the hallway turned around and stared at him. Squall avoided their glance and stared hard at Quistis. "How the hell did this happen?"

"I don't know." Quistis said, almost at the verge of tears but she still stood strong, nodding her head. She folded her arms deep in thought. "No-one had the key card to the Doom machine."

"Did you lose it?" Squall said, knowing that there is something else she didn't say.

"…Squall, I'm so sorry. I didn't know what happened to it!" Quistis said, her face becoming redder.

"What!" Squall yelled.

"I'm so sorry! Look, I think it fell out of my purse when I was showing Rinoa to her room. I felt something slip but I thought it was my imagination. I guess when Seifer attacked her, he found the card and went missing with it."

"Whoa, calm down." Irvine said, breaking the fight. "Look, what happened, happened, alright? Now we just need a plan to find that –" and then he swore, causing more people to look at them. Squall gave them a cold hard stare and they bowed low, running down the hallway. "…and find that machine. Easy as that, right?"

The two exchanged glances. _Easier said than done, _Quistis thought. But the both of them silently agreed that they had to go for it.

"Err sorry if I ask." Irvine said, looking around to see if the coast was clear. "What's that Doom machine?"

"It's a prototype." Quistis whispered. "Balamb Garden wanted a real fighting machine, one capable of destroying a whole town the size of Dollet in five minutes. The one missing is a prototype and it has been kept underground because its powers were too much than expected. We kept it underground, not sure when we're going to tweak its power."

"Why didn't you?" Irvine asked.

"You make it sound so easy, Irvy. Learn electronics and tell **me **it's a piece of cake." Quistis snapped. Irvine backed down and touched his cowboy hat, a sign that meant 'sorry'.

"What are we going to do...?" Quistis said, almost to herself. "If that thing fell into the wrong hands, we're done for! He could destroy Balamb in under a minute, flat!"

"I'm sure we can –" Squall said but he was cut off by Quistis's cries. The two men stood there motionlessly, watching her cry.

None of them have seen the strong-hearted, risk-taking Quistis cry. Now Squall looked over her and saw that she's just like every 18 year-old girl, not a confident, elegant and intelligent lecturer and instructor. She seemed even more human, and Squall didn't think he liked that feeling.

"Quistis." Irvine said, trying to cheer her up. He held her arms and brought her closer to him. He hugged her as Quistis tried to calm herself down. She held her breath, trying to block out the cries that was escaping her lips. Irvine hushed her, both hands on her back and he stroked her gently and her cries turned into sobs. She felt better and she sniffed, saying thanks in between.

Squall stood there, deep in thought. _If I was a perverted idiot with a megaton machine under me, where would I go?_

Back in the infirmary, Zell was talking with Dr. Kawadoki at the other end of the room and Selphie was on Rinoa's bed, trying to cheer the poor girl up.

"Hey." Selphie said suddenly and it caught Rinoa's attention. "I just want to ask you something."

Rinoa stopped for a while but thought, _What the heck._

"Sure. Shoot." She said confidently.

"Do you like Squall?" Selphie asked.

Rinoa's eyes widened. "Selph!"

"Whaat? Can't I ask you that?" Selphie said, bouncing on her bed.

"It's too soon to ask that question. I only knew him for two days!" Rinoa snapped, her face blushing hard.

"But I think he likes you. Talking to you? Offering you his room? Girl, you got through to him in less time than we did!"

"He's just being nice… That's all." Rinoa said in a small voice, trying hard not to show Selphie that she's blushing.

"Squall's never nice. He's never mean either but…" Selphie said, crossing her arms and thought of something. "But I've never seen him act like that around **any **girl! Not even me **or **Quistis!"

Rinoa didn't say anything, feeling flushed. "Shut up!" she said playfully and nudged Selphie a bit. Selphie giggled.

"You like him, don'tca?" Selphie said and winked at her. "I know you do! Come on, don't lie!"

"I…" Rinoa said but she caught herself. "I'm sure he likes some other girl. He's probably waiting for her, that why he's always alone and lonely."

"Ohh I think not." Selphie said, waving her finger in front of Rinoa's face. "Maybe you're the one he's been waiting for."

"Shut… up!" Rinoa said playfully and threw a small pillow at Selphie. Selphie dodged the pillow attack and grinned.

"You'll see. I can tell." Selphie said, still grinning. Then they heard the door open and Squall stepped in hastily. He walked over to Dr. Kawadoki and they engaged in a heated conversation. After that, he talked to Zell for a moment and went back out again. Zell turned towards the two with a funny look. Rinoa heard a small clank but thought about it nothing more.

"Where is he going?" Selphie asked.

Zell opened his mouth to answer but suddenly the whole Garden shook under a big explosion. All the lights flickered and dust and debris started to fall from the ceiling. Everyone got down on the floor in to time at all, their hands to their heads.

"Squall said that it's going to get a little rough in here!" Zellshouted over the roar of multiple explosionsand all the lights went out simultaneously.


	5. Guns and Roses

_Hikari Reika: Thanks for the reviews! Much appreciated :D I've been getting reviews that the story unfolds a little too fast. Really? Heh see I told you, I haven't written a FF8 fanfic in three years. It shows, doesn't it :P anyway, I've slowed things down (**a bit**. Let the story slow down bit by bit so the flow is there) in this chapter, just for reader's sake. Aight, then! Review and tell me what you think. Thanks again. Cheers!_

**MY LIONHEART – CHAPTER 5**

_Guns and Roses_

"Aaahhh!" Quistis screamed as another explosion rocked Balamb Garden. She stumbled, falling to her knees. Hard.

"Come on! We gotta go!" Irvine said as he clasped Quistis's wrist, egging her to move. She got up, falling over herself but managed to gain momentum and ran to catch up with them. They ran towards the end of the hall to see students running across the hall, covered in blood. Suddenly the heard gunshots, then a sickening scream that deafened their ears. Then all they heard was silence.

In that silence, Squall heard his heart pounding in his ears. _What the hell is going on? _He thought. _This isn't the work of Doom. It doesn't even shoot friggin' bullets!_

Squall's leg thawed and he got up and ran again. He reached the end of the hall and he heard the gunshots going off again. Instinctively, he turned his whole body around and fell behind the hallway wall. The bullets chipped off the wall, the rubble falling to the ground like snow. He took a quick glance behind the wall and hid again before a bullet ricocheted off the wall again.

_What the hell?_ He thought. _Who the hell are **they**?_

"Who's that?" Irvine said, falling beside Squall. Quistis instinctively fell to her knees as well, her back leaning against the wall.

"I don't know." Squall said. "They look like someone from the Intelligence Agency. Or something."

"Or something?" Quistis said, shocked. "Squall, they might be after our Doom prototype!"

"But we don't have it! We just lost it!" Squall snapped.

"I know! But they don't know that, now do they?" Quistis yelled over the roar of another explosion. The explosion caused parts of the ceiling to fall down in chunks, missing them my mere inches. When the dust cleared partially, Irvine was on top of Quistis. His hands were on the wall behind her, pushing himself from Quistis but at a goodly distance to shield her from any rubble.

"We gotta get underground!" Irvine yelled.

"Wait! We have to get the others!" Squall said and tried to get up but Quistis's hand immediately shot out and held him, her hand on his chest.

"No! They'll be alright. We need to get underground now!" Quistis said. Another explosion rocked the Garden and Quistis screamed. More rubble fell on them and Squall, Irvine and Quistis started coughing. The dust cleared again and more gunshots and piercing screams can be heard.

Quistis tried hard to shut out all the screams by playing her hands onto her ears.

"Hey Quisty, why the scared look? Think of this as a training mission - You know - In order to become a SeeD?" Irvine said comfortingly, even as a small explosion shook the building. His voice sounded shaky but he tried hard to conceal it. _He's obviously scared, _Quistis thought.

Quistis's eyes widened and slowly nodded, finding her strength in his words.

"Now!" Quistis said, shifting under Irvine. She motioned towards Squall who had a clearly worried look on his face. "We need to get underground now! Do you have your card with you?"

Squall looked at her blankly, and then slowly nodded. He searched his pockets and he took out a key card.

"Right. Now how do we get over to that elevator?" Irvine said, looking across the hallway.

"I didn't bring my weapon." Squall said simply.

"Here comes Irvine, the only one prepared for situations like this." Irvine smirked as he opened his coat and took out his shot gun. He pushed himself away from Quistis and took a few shots from behind the wall and they heard a few short screams. Irvine coolly looked over from behind the wall and motioned them to follow suit as they scurried across the hallway. Irvine pressed the button and they all pushed themselves in, hoping that the doors would close as quickly as possible. When it did, Quistis let out a sigh of relief and rested her back against the cool, metal and glass walls of the elevator.

Squall held his key card and swiped it, and the elevator shifted and rumbled under their weight. Then it descended.

"Phew." Irvine said, taking off his cowboy hat and wiping the sweat off his face.

_Show-off,_ Squall growled comically.

"I thought it was Doom. I thought Seifer was insane enough to attack us the next day." Quistis said in a small voice, almost to herself. The two looked at her, unable to say anything.

It took a while for them to get underground but when they did, they stumbled out. Irvine's eyes widened and his mouth was agape.

"This place is huge!" Irvine exclaimed. His voice bounced off the big room, creating an ear-deafening echo. He stared at wonder as he stared at gadgets and electronics on the walls, on the sleek metal tables and bigger ones that was placed on the floor.

_All this under Balamb Garden? Wow no wonder our fees are so high. _Irvine thought.

"You're not supposed to be here so keep your voice down." Quistis snapped as she furiously rummaged through a few drawers. The explosions upstairs seemed soft and less powerful but Squall and Irvine felt their heart sink even lower.

Quistis stopped for a while and put her hands to her face. She let out a long sigh and turned around to face the two of them. "I don't even know what to do down here."

"Any weapons down here?" Irvine asked, tilting his head to one-side.

"Well..." Quistis's voice said but trailed off as she scanned the area. "None which have been approved."

"Let me guess. Prototypes?" Irvine said, stroking his chin.

"Yes. We haven't tested most of them yet." Quistis said, motioning towards Irvine. Irvine turned around and saw tens of big guns mounted onto the wall.

"Well, let's test them, shall we?" Irvine said. "You shouldn't care if it was a tad more powerful than expected. Heck, that's good!"

Quistis exchanged glances with Squall for a long time.

"The problem is; it might even be a tad **less** powerful." Squall said simply in a monotone voice.

"Uh... Well... Just grab whatever you can!" Irvine said as he preceded taking down the guns. He took smaller ones, stuffing whatever he can into his coat. Quistis and Squall went over and joined him, putting the guns on their belts and pockets. When they were packed and loaded, they got into the lift and the lift slowly closed its doors on them.

"I can't believe what's going on. Everything's happening too fast." Quistis said, feeling a headache coming on.

"You tell me." Squall said, thinking about Rinoa.

Back at the infirmary, Zell, Selphie, Rinoa and Dr. Kawadoki still faced the cold, tiled floor below them. After a while, the explosion ceased and Zell pulled his face away from the floor.

"Everyone alright?" Zell squeaked. He heard groans, but at least they sounded alright.

"What now?" Selphie said as she got up on her knees, wiping the debris off her. Everyone got up slowly, scanning the damage around them.

"Dr. Kawadoki, we need you to take shelter in a closet – or something." Zell said as he straightened himself up, helping Selphie on her legs. Dr. Kawadoki laid still for a moment, but nodded and walked coolly towards a nearby door.

"Be careful," Was all she said as she closed the door behind her. The only ones left in the room were the three of them.

"Like I said, now what?" Selphie piped up after a long silence.

"We fight?" Zell said stupidly.

"No! We have to look for the others!" Selphie said, waving a finger in front of him.

"It's not safe. We can't!" Rinoa protested.

"Well we can't just stay here, can we?" Selphie said, tilting her head to one side.

Another long silence.

"They'll be safe. I can feel it." Rinoa said suddenly. She scanned the room and found a ring on the floor near the front door. Curious, she went over and picked it up.

_This is Squall's ring, _she thought as she clutched it tighter in her hand. _Squall, I hope you're alright._


	6. Tears of Chaos

**MY LIONHEART – CHAPTER 6**

_Tears of Chaos_

The lift doors creaked opened slowly after what seemed like ages of going up. As the doors opened up, a foul stench filled their nostrils. With an unnerving attitude, Irvine took a peek around and signaled the two of them to come out. Irvine laid down his guard, a little taken aback to see that the explosions have stopped. There were no-one in the hallway either, except for a few bodies littered here and there. The stench of death hung eerily in the corridor.

"Ugh." Quistis whimpered, pinching her nose. She felt like she could throw up any minute.

"Where are you going?" Irvine asked as Squall shot past them. He approached three bodies, obviously not students of this school. The three men were no younger than him and they had bullet wounds in their chest and forehead. They held their guns loosely in their bloody hands. Squall winced at the sight of them.

Irvine and Quistis trailed behind him, frequently looking left and right to see if the coast was clear. Upon reaching where he kneeled, they scanned the bodies in front of them.

"Oh." Quistis said, shocked. Squall was looking at one of the young man's dog tag.

"No good. No wallet, no ID. Just numbers on their dog tags." Squall said simply.Quistis's eyes started to water. She wiped the tears with the back of her hand, trying to make her movement minimal so that neither Irvine nor Squall's attention will be drawn to it. It worked. The two continued scanning the bodies, hopeful trying to find a source of information about where they were from.

Or what their dirty business was.

Irvine cursed, pulling his head back. "What do we do now?"

After a silent moment, Squall piped up, "I need to go back to the dorm. Get my Gunblade."

"What? We don't have much time!" Irvine said, protesting. Squall coolly looked around him and then back at Irvine.

"Not much time for what?" Squall said, a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

Irvine dropped his head. "Eish. Fine. We need to see if the premises are cleared of those scumbags, eh?"

Squall nodded lazily and started to head off to the dormitories when he looked over his shoulder.

"Quistis?"

"Hmm?"

"Are you coming?" Squall said.

"Ah… No, sorry. I'll… Uhh… I'll go back to see if the rest of the kids back at the infirmary are fine okay?" Quistis said with a forced smile, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying. Squall took no notice of it, nodded his head and headed off towards the dorms with Irvine. Quistis took another look at the bodies, let a sob escape her lips and collapsed onto her knees.

"What's wrong with her?" Irvine said, looking over his shoulder as they ran. Quistis was already out of their sight.

"Huh?" Squall said, almost out of breath.

"Geez, you really are clueless with women, aren't you?" Irvine shouted, trying to keep up with him.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Squall snapped as he slowed his pace.

"Man, Quistis was crying for god's sake and you didn't even notice?"

"…What? She did? Why?"

"That's why I'm asking you."

"…" Squall stopped his pace but kept quiet.

"Squall?" Irvine stepped in front of him, looking at him.

Squall pushed him away and continued walking.

"I don't know. Leave me alone." Squall grumpily. Irvine sighed and darted towards the other way.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Squall yelled.

"I need to see if she's alright! Meet back in the infirmary!"

_I don't believe this._

Squall went back to his room, hastily looked for his Gunblade, replaced the gun with a prototype (_I've been waiting to try this on, _Squall thought as he snickered) and hastily ran back towards the infirmary. Before he got there, he saw Quistis still next to the bodies, on her knees. Irvine, who was kneeling beside her, looked at her with big eyes. She was explaining something to him but their conversation came to an abrupt end when Irvine saw Squall approach them.

Quistis and Irvine exchanged long, hard looks and then Quistis turned to Squall.

"Squall, there's something you need to know about these… Soldiers." Quistis began to say.

Back at the infirmary, Zell was oddly standing on one foot, trying hard to think of that they should be doing at the moment.

"Rinoa! Where are you going?" Selphie yelled as Rinoa shot out of the infirmary main doors.

"I see Irvine and Quistis near the elevator! Come on!" Rinoa said, taking two steps back and then disappeared. Selphie exchanged glances with Zell and ran to keep up with her. Upon reaching the two, they saw Squall, his back facing them.

"Squall!" Rinoa said, skipping towards him. She immediately sensed that something was wrong, and she dropped her cheery tone. "Squall? What's wrong?"

With his back still facing her, he replied, "Nothing."

After a long silence, Quistis broke the tenseness in the air. "Alright. You three, you need to take shelter. Here, take my spare key…"

"Hey Quisty, if you guys fight, I'll fight as well." Zell said stubbornly.

Quistis sighed. "Well, I assume you two ladies want to join in?"

Selphie looked at Rinoa, stared back at Quistis and took out her nunchaku. She winked.

Rinoa sighed and nodded as she didn't want to feel left out.

"Right. Rinoa, here, you can have this." Quistis said, handing her a weapon. "It's called Shooting Star. One of my favorites. It's still a prototype so be careful."

Rinoa took it in her hands. "Thanks." She said. It was small but slightly longer than the ones she'd seen before. Despite its small size, it was so much heavier. Any heavier and she could have sworn that it was a shotgun. She had never held a weapon before, and doubted if this was going to be the last time.

"Alright. Everyone ready?" Zell said as he straightened his gloves. Suddenly Irvine clumsily threw him a gun which Zell clumsily caught it and it slipped his hands and fell to the ground with a deafening 'clank'. He picked it up, looked at it amusingly and before he could say anything, Irvine broke in. "You won't get the chance to get close to them to sucker punch them."

"Irv, my man, you know that I'm not a gun person." Zell said, tilting his head to one side.

"Alright, enough with this chit chat. We need to get to work." Quistis said, loading bullets into her gun. With a click, she set off on her own, expecting everyone to keep up.

"So now, where are we going?" Selphie asked, walking beside her.

"We need to see if anyone survived."

"Umm…" Selphie said, not sure how to ask her.

"Remember our fire drill? If a fire breaks out, we are required to go to the back of the Garden. There's a big, vacant lot back there."

"But there's no fire." Zell said.

"But most of us know that it's a safe and open place, right?" Quistis said as she darted down the corridor. "Alright. I'm going to split us up. Squall, Irvine, you follow me. The rest, you see if there are people in the lots. If there are, protect them at all costs. I will automatically make all of you SeeDs if you survive."

Zell and Selphie looked smug, but Rinoa's mouth was agape. _I just got here! _Rinoa thought angrily.

"I'll go with them. Selphie, you take my place and follow Quistis and Irvine.

"Excuse me?" Quistis shot back.

"Rinoa is inexperienced. Selphie can be with you. Irvine is the best sharpshooter so I know your group will be covered." Squall said.

"And how about you?" Quistis asked.

"I'm your best student, aren't I?" Squall snickered. "Zell has been in war training twice. We're enough to keep a watch over her."

"…Fine. Alright then. Let's move. Selphie, come." Quistis said.

The party parted ways and Squall's group descended the steps while Quistis's group took the elevator.

"So what's the situation?" Zell asked as they took the back way towards the vacant lot.

"We're in deep shit." Squall swore simply.

"Can't get any worse eh?" Zell asked. Rinoa was close behind them, listening to their conversation.

"It will." Squall said in a small voice. He could hear distant gunshots in the distance. Piercing screams got louder and louder as they approached the lot. They had a sinking feeling, and they know that it's going to get very messy.

"Well then," Zell said as he pulled up the gun and examined it in the air. "Let the damned chaos begin!"


	7. Locked and Loaded

_Hikari Reika: Thank you so much for all of your reviews I… I… sobs I'm so happy! Haha. I was so overwhelmed by the reviews I've got that I've decided to write the next chapter immediately after I've read them. Haha! Moving on, I haven't thanked Hyvlo about the Gunblade prototype (although I made Squall change **just** the gun. Oops :P) so I just want to say thanks a lot, aight! Ah, enough of this small talk. Let's get down to Chapter 7!_

**MY LIONHEART – CHAPTER 7**

_Locked and Loaded_

"Where are we going?" Selphie asked as they all got into the lift. Quistis ignored her question momentarily and mashed the 'up' button several times until the lift creaked and ascended. She wiped the hair away from her sweaty face, thought for a while and finally spun towards Selphie.

"We're going to see if Headmaster Cid is still up there." She said sternly, although her face portrayed a different kind of emotion – a scarred emotion of worry.

"Is… Everything alright?" Irvine asked slowly, tilting his head to one side to examine Quistis's facial features.

She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again and shook her head furiously. "I wish I can say yes, but I can feel that everything's going to get a little more chaotic around here."

"What's happening, anyway?" asked Selphie, curious.

Quistis glanced at the numbers over the lift door to see what floor they were on.

"We have a few more floors to go so I'll make it quick," she said. Selphie held her breath, listening attentively to what she was going to say.

"We, I mean, us three, Squall, Zell and Seifer are all in the same orphanage, right?"

Selphie nodded.

"And it was Edea, Headmaster Cid's wife that took care of us, right?"

Selphie nodded again, wondering if there was any connection to that and what was going on.

"Well, I was the closest to Edea so I know where her husband was at that time. You see, he was running an illegal fighting school; all of his students are from his and Edea's orphanage.

Selphie's jaw dropped. "What? Are you sure?"

Quistis nodded slowly. "Yes. The school is a family business, actually. Now he's running it, I think, unless he has siblings…"

"That's ridiculous." Irvine said as he scrunched up his nose. He snorted. "Cid will never do anything like that."

"I wish I can believe you… But it looks like he's back to his old habits again." Quistis said.

"But why does he want to attack Balamb Garden? It's his school, for god's sake!" Selphie cried, outraged.

"Even though he's the Headmaster, it doesn't mean he owns it. This school is owned by the government, mind you." Quistis said, suddenly she changed topic. "His private fighting school was revoked of its license. I've had a feeling that he had been secretly running the school illegally ever since I've heard that he was made Headmaster. Maybe he wanted to learn the ropes or something… I don't know… A cover-up maybe…"

"But still," Selphie said, calming down. Her breathing pace slowed down and she spoke more clearly. "Why does he want to attack this school?"

"Destroy it, probably. But I think the main reason is that he wants the Doom prototype me, Squall and a few other instructors have been working on for two years now. He doesn't own it; he can't have it; so he decided to fight us with force in order to get it."

"I don't believe he did it. I believe he's innocent." Selphie said, folding her arms.

"I hope you're on our side because you know we are the only ones who will protect you." Quistis said in a dead voice. Selphie swallowed hard; then she nodded her head furiously.

_'Ding'_

"We're here. Locked and loaded, baby." Irvine said; making sure his gun was all fired up and ready.

The doors slid open and they stumbled out into the room. The room was splashed with shades of red, from the carpet to the ceiling. There were plush red carpets and comfortable sofas lying still at the corner of the room. A handsome oak desk sat opposite of them and an empty chair sat motionlessly behind it.

"He's not here." Quistis said silently. She dropped her gun, and she bit her lip.

"Is that good or bad?" Irvine asked with a smug face.

Before Quistis could say anything, she felt like a brute force knocked her from behind and she fell, her hands palming against the floor beneath her. Her guns skidded across the carpeted floor, way out of her reach. Selphie and Irvine fell too, and they groaned as their eyes focused to see who that was.

"Well, isn't this rude." A familiar voice spoke, boring into their sub-conscious minds. The sound of guns loading was heard and each of them felt its cold, metal tip being pressed firmly to their heads. They lifted their heads up from the floor slowly to see who that voice belonged to.

At the vacant lot, Squall was busy shooting at his enemies who were sporting black, padded jackets, navy-green shirts and a dog-tag around their necks. He, Rinoa and Zell formed a circle around the survivors, shooting every enemy that came in their view.

"There's too many of them!" Rinoa shouted; two hands on her gun. It was small, but the energy it created was explosive. Each time she fired, she was dragged back at least a pace and stepped forward again to take another shot. Zell, however, was having some trouble with his gun. He cursed as he took out another magazine, _(HR: bullets in a casing for automatic guns. Don't know why they call it either)_ and slowly loaded it. He took a few more shots, groaned and loaded another mag.

"We need to get to higher ground." Squall shouted above the roar of ricocheting bullets and explosions. "They can make a run for it."

"Lead them up the steps, Zell!" Rinoa called over to Zell who was facing the stairs. Zell nodded and cautiously took a few steps at a time, eyeing the enemies that were in his way. They moved slowly, and then ran for the steps and the enemies opened fire on them, causing more panic to fill the air.

"Go! Go! Go!" Squall yelled as they reached the landing. The students and staff ran into the building while the three fell to their knees, the bullets missing them by mere millimeters. A bullet zipped through the air and scratched Rinoa's cheek. She gasped, trying to wipe off the blood that was oozing down her rosy cheeks.

"Into the building. Now." Squall said as he forcefully grabbed Rinoa by the wrist. Zell was already way ahead of them, signaling them that the coast is clear. After they entered the building, they took in frequent but short breaths.

"Instructor Mitch? Lead the rest to the infirmary. They'll be safer there." Squall said between gasps, trying to catch his breath as he leaned on the cold wall behind him.

A tall, dark man nodded and ran with the survivors towards the infirmary. The three sighed; glad that was taken care of.

"What do we do now?" Rinoa asked.

"They're going to come in here soon, so I think we should either fight them or hide somewhere." Zell said immediately.

"Where are the rest?" Squall asked, ignoring Zell's remark.

Rinoa looked around. _Odd, we should be hearing from them by now._

Suddenly they heard sirens go off, and then Squall could hear their enemies yelling and retreating. He poked his head behind the wall to see them running in the opposite direction. In the distance he could make out a few, black armored cars that had its back doors opened. After the enemies got in, the doors were shut and within seconds, the cars were out of sight. Everything became silent. It was as abrupt as when this war started that morning.

_I have a bad feeling about this, _Squall thought to himself. _Really, really bad feelings._


End file.
